


Cat-Sitting

by wickedorin



Category: Tiger & Bunny
Genre: AU, Dangerous levels of fluff, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-11
Updated: 2014-03-11
Packaged: 2018-01-16 18:55:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 959
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1358254
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wickedorin/pseuds/wickedorin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Written as a fill for a drabble request on AwaitingMassProduction: "Tiger and Bunny kitten-sit Asimov for reasons, while trying to be loving."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Cat-Sitting

"I have no idea where he is." Kotetsu spoke quietly to himself, standing in the main room and turning very, very slowly, looking for any signs of the cat. Any at all. There was nowhere for him to hide in Barnaby’s Sternbild apartment. Obviously. There wasn’t anywhere for him to hide in the kitchen, either, everything spotless and stainless steel, the drawers and cabinets still so new that they were difficult for a full-grown man to tug open. They’d still looked, countless times.

Barnaby’s room was generally just as spotless; at least when Kotetsu wasn’t staying there. It was just a little more “cluttered” with the older man around, but even so, they’d looked under the bed, the dresser, in the closet, behind and underneath absolutely everything they could think of.

No cat.

It wasn’t that he thought Kurou would punch him or anything. Of course he wouldn’t; but he would be hurt and disappointed, much too worried to do anything but find out exactly what had happened.

"Are you sure he didn’t get outside?" Kotetsu’s voice was still quiet when he heard Barnaby walking up behind him.

"He couldn’t have. It just isn’t possible. The windows don’t open easily and no one’s been in or out of that door." The blond assured, tone matter-of-fact… but there was one very soft, almost missed shake in his voice. He’d never had a pet, but he enjoyed the idea of one. Getting to look after Asimov for a few days while Kurou and Argente were off at a technology conference in France was actually appealing, along with getting to stay in the apartment again for a while. He thought he’d finally be able to decide whether or not he wanted to get rid of it, or whether it felt right with Kotetsu there. And then the cat had gone missing.

The brunet took a deep breath and let it out with a slump. “Bathroom?”

"Nowhere to go." Barnaby responded. "Tub’s empty, and he’s not in the cabinets."

"Hamper—" Kotetsu started, hopefully.

"Empty." The younger man responded with a sigh.

Frowning, he finally turned to face the blond, at a loss. He hated that feeling; and he hated the fact that they didn’t know if there was a lost cat somewhere out there with no idea where he was or what was going on. If Kurou had been there, he could have tracked Asimov down, he was sure of it, but… “You don’t suppose cats can be NEXTs, do you?”

Barnaby snorted. “I guess I couldn’t put it past a cat that belongs to an android and a clone…”

Kotetsu’s laugh was noticeably empty. “They’re going to hate us.”

"They’re not going to hate us, they’re just…” The pause was an exceptionally long one. “Did you ever lose your daughter?”

The older man looked positively aghast. “Of course not!” It only took a moment of Barnaby staring at him to get the quiet confession, “Just for a couple minutes in a grocery store, but she was fine!”

That got a laugh from Barnaby, though he knew the situation was grim at best. “Well… come on, relax with me for a little while. We’ll think this over.”

”Relax? How am I supposed to ‘relax’ when—”

The blond just took hold of Kotetsu’s hand and tugged. “I mean relax. Relax-relax. Just lay down with me for a while, we’ll think this through.”

An enormous sigh was as much agreement as he had in him, following Barnaby into the bedroom. To think they’d been worried about getting the cat out of there in case they wanted some “alone time”…

"Kotetsu."

"Yeah?" He wasn’t done sighing, feeling worse and worse the more he thought about it.

"You checked the bed, right?" Barnaby asked in a way that seemed to insist upon attention being paid.

"You helped me check a dozen times at least." Kotetsu reminded him, not seeing where the blond was going with that.

The younger man just pointed. “Either one of the pillows is breathing or there’s a cat in there.”

The way he went from depression to simply lighting up with happiness was astonishing. As was the way Kotetsu very nearly leaped toward the bed, pulling the covers back and starling the cat so thoroughly that Asimov didn’t stand a chance; he was simply scooped up into the man’s arms, all stiff limbs and confused wide eyes. “Now Kurou won’t hate us, and neither will you!”

Barnaby laughed. He couldn’t help himself. “Okay, well. Now we know to look in the bed.”

Somehow able to cradle the still very wide-eyed cat like a human baby, Kotetsu promised, “We’re going to give you so many treats and spoil you more than the robo-doggies would.”

"I doubt Kurou would appreciate that, exactly.” The blond attempted to point out.

Asimov finally relaxed as the older man placed him back on the bed. Then, as if nothing had happened, the cat made his way back to the pillow he’d been occupying. “Awww. ‘Course now he’s in our bed.”

”Our bed?” Barnaby felt the need to challenge, teasing.

"Yes, ours.” Kotetsu wasn’t about to back down from that, sticking his tongue out at the other man.

There was a snort in return. “Are you thinking of celebrating or something?”

"Nah." Walking back over to Barnaby, he slung an arm around the blond’s shoulder and pulled him toward the bed. "Let’s just snuggle with the cat for a while, okay? It’s been years since I got to have one around. I almost forgot how easily they can scare the hell out of you."

What a silly idea. With a little sigh, he could only give in to such demands.

At least, until Asimov attempted to walk over his face.


End file.
